Injection molding press



Aug; 15, 1950 E. R. KNOWLES INJECTION MOLDING PRESS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 17, 1946 INVENTOR: fl Edward 215 7100195 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 17, 1946 @N v: HR v s m M 1% 5 mm m m 2 1 w Q d v m n v 2 Y% B @N w aw Xv an i 3 {v.6 m 3 I n 8 wv N 3 1. g m S QM 8 I, 1. 8 V. N 3 3 N Y\. SQ 3 E 3 N6 Aug. 15, 1950' 5, R, KNOW ES 2,519,255

INJECTION MOLDING PRESS I Filed April 17, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 i6 I 10 44 34 r, i f 24 J a2 Z2 3%: I 5

\ INVENTOR:

Fdwan/Bknowks 5, 1950 E. R. KNOWLES 2,519,255

INJECTION MOLDING PRESS Filed April 17, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Aug. 15, 1950 UNIT ?AT FFlfiE-Q 7 25191255 V INFEQTIGN MQLDI'NG i PRES Edward?- m KnowlesrNashua; Hi; assignor-to Improved Paper Machinery Corporation, r

Nashua, .N..H;,.aicorperation of Maine A ppliatibn -Aprifl'r, 1946QSri'aT-N0. 662,826

2; Claims.- (01.

This-invention relatesrto:plasticginjectiornmoldthe-die partswarev clamped together,- forml-a'seriesr ing} machines; andrai-ms sci-provide improvements,

by: a separate operationii.

It: is a) still: further orbgeat" of" this? invention :to'; provide; in" a. machine as aforesaid, adjust'abler and fully automatic controli 01 each operating cycle:

An; additional object is e to provide the option of: manual" control: of each operating cycle.

'An-other: obj ect: of the; invention is to provide a machine as aforesaidf whicl'c' willirbe' simple in; construction and operation} and of minimum cost" in; view oit the results attained;

The manner; in which-I: accomplish the abovei and otherobj'ects will: be: clear fromi the following detailed descriptiomtaken inrconnectionwith:

the annexedizdrawings, representing one embodimerit: of; myrinvention', and in which:

Fig: 1 is-"ia plan view. ofrthe operating: elements 1 in th'e improved machine? Fig. 2 is: a side elevation corresponding to Fig-:i1;:

Fig; 3' iS 'a'I section'taken on: the line" 3-3 of Fig; 1;

Figs 3A: is: a section similar to Fig: 3', showing the remainder of the Fina-chine?" Figs. 4', 5- and? (i are side elevations showing conseeutiveirelationships" of the parts during the forward or operative strolie;

Figs: '7 8-rand 9 are 1. sideelevation views showing consecutive relationships: on the return 1 stroke; 7

Fig: 10: is" a detailf of thefrelatibnship of the inj ectiionl nozzle 'to I the die cavities;

Figs-f1Pisascheinaticfdiagrarir of the hydraulic operating. circuits; andr Fig. 12 is a schematic diagnamiiiiustratingtheeiectrica'l controleic-ircui-tsi Inthe most commoniformrcf injection molding;

a two-part dieis: provided inf which eachdie part has a seriesiot moldingeavities which, when;

of'individual molds. A- gate: or sprue is pro;-

vided, usually substantially atlthe center of the.

patternof molding cavities; and is connected 1. with each of: the: cavities: by a channel: on nunway; The 'die halves are: clamped together? and;

an injection nozzle isppiaced against the central;-

sprue-- or gate, and plastic material which. has? been brought to the requisite moldable condition is injectedfthrough the: gate; thence; throughr the channels and: into the? individual mold cavities, Upon the completion; ofi the:- injection step sufiicient time is ailowed to-rpermit the plastic" ma terial to harden to a point'ata which the parts:

' maybe handled". Thezm-old halves-rareathen separatedand the molded :parts removed; Thelines: of: plasticconnecting the finished articles with the centralgate; and the sprue'between the gate: and the nozzle; are later removed: by suitable-I trimming" operations.

Heret'oiore' it has been oustomary to utilize one pressure generating meanstooperate the mold halves; and a: secondr pressure: generating device torperforin the? injection step.

The' present invention utilizes: a single preS- sure generating device which at a single opera tion'fnot oniy closes and clamps *the" dies; but performs; the injection operation: The general organization: of parts is: shown inc-Figs. 1: and 2:1 in

' which thGI'G'iS': illustrated a movable platen t0- and airelativelycstationary platen H; which has, however; andas Willappear'more' clearly herematte-r; an absolute movement-1 of its own; A

die: k4; is: secured to: the movable platen [03" and? I a complementary diei6 is securect to the relatively stationary-platen I): The pl'atensii 0 and t2 are slidabl-y mounted upon, and are helde'in alignment by, four? tie rods l8; of? which only three'are visible in- Figs; 1 and 2. These rods engage a framernernber: 24 at the injection end' of the. machine, and a generally-"similar frame member-Zhat' thecompression end; The frame rriemberdfi" is integrally 'secured'to the hydraulic cylinder 28. A piston is mounted within the cylinder 28 and engages the movableplat'enl'0.

Fig; 3A shows specifically hOWZ the'pl'aten' Hl'is actuated by hydraulic piston 30 having an'ena largeclr end Ill! which hasa'sliding fit in"a"bore H33 in the cylinder 28;

at" theend; adjacent: the platen Ill; and the opposite endor the: cylinderis closed bya cylinder head; it";

The piston 30: passes throughrany convenientform; OfiStlJfill1g1bDXf1fi5'l' Fluid under)" pressure isadmitted: throughz-a duct I 9a in theend: 0f the cylinder adi- Jaeentvthe cylinder head: to] to drivei'hlateir to the right, while fluid under pressure is introduced at the opposite end of the cylinder through a duct I I I in order to return the parts to a starting position. Numeral H2 designates an air cock of conventional design to permit undesired air to be bled out of the cylinder when required.

A pair of studs I I4 (Fig. 3) are mounted in the member 25 and penetrate the platen Hi. When the platen is fully retracted the studs H4 encounter a bar I I 5 to which a plurality of conventional knock out pins are secured. These pins penetrate the platen l9 and the die I4 associated therewith, and operate to knock out the freshly formed parts which are carried by the die I4 after it has been separated from the die I6 following the injection step.

An injection piston 32 (Fig. 3) is secured to the frame member 24 and is aligned with an injection cylinder 34. The injection cylinder 34 is mounted on a frame member 36 through the intermediary of a sleeve 52 to be described below; member 36, in turn, is slidably mounted on the rods I8. The injection cylinder assembly in cludes heating .elements 38 which are controlled by a thermocouple 4!! which governs a thermostat 2I4 to be described hereafter. Cylinder 34 terminates in an injection nozzle 42 which penetrates the relatively'stationary platen I2 and into die is.

Operating rods 44 are slidably mounted to pass through platens II] and I2 and frame member 36. These rods are four in number and are parallel to, and arranged to lie outside of, the pattern of the tie rods I8.

On the outer or compression side of the platen II] operating rods 44 have'secured thereto stop members 45. At the injection side of the relatively stationary platen I2 the operating rods 44 have attached thereto stop members 48, while at the outer or injection side of the frame member 36 the tie rods have secured thereto stop members 50. Stop members 58 are in the form of lock nuts to provide a general adjustment of the overall effective length of the tie rods 44 and the overall spacing of the stop members 46, 48 and 50.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the rearward end of the injection cylinder is surrounded by a sleeve 52in which is formed a passageway for a feeder valve 54. Valve 54 receives a threaded stud 56 which passes through the frame member 24. Lock nuts 58 on opposite ends of frame member 24 permit the position of the valve 54 to be adiusted relative to the member 24, and therefore relative to the sleeve 52. A feeding opening 65 is formed in the upper side of the sleeve 52 and a hopper 62 is fixedly mounted therein. The sleeve 52 has below the passage for the valve member 54 an opening 64 which registers with a similar opening 65 in the cylinder 34. With the parts in the position shown in Fig. 3, opening 68 in the valve member 54 registers with the uppermost opening 50 in sleeve 52, and therefore with the hopper 62. Under these conditions a charge of granular plastic material in the hopper 62 may entesrathe opening 68 provided in the valve member 'The operation of the injection stroke of the devicemay best be understood by reference to the simplified views of Figs. 4, 5 and 6. Under the impetus of the piston 35 the platen It] and its die I4 move toward the platen I2 and its die It. Substantially at the same time the die i4 meets the die I6, platen I engages an auxiliary stop 55 on the rods '44, so that the rods 44 thereafter move with the platen III toward the frame member 24. After engagement of the dies I4 and I6 the platen I2 is carried toward the injection cylinder 34 so that the nozzle 42 is firmly engaged within the die I6. Continued advance of platen I0 then carries rearwardly the entire injection assembly including the sleeve 52, the hopper 52 and the frame member 36. The piston 32 being affixed to the frame member 24 remains stationary and therefore in effect advances into the cylinder 34 and injects a charge of plastic material into the molds formed in the dies I4 and. I 5. Continued rearward movement of the injection assembly brings the openings 64 and 66 in the sleeve 52 and cylinder 34 respectively under the opening 68 provided in the valve member 54, and permits a portion of the charge of plastic material in the valve member 54 to be deposited within said openings 64 and 66 and upon plunger 32, for later deposit within the bore of cylinder 34 upon retraction of the latter along the plunger 32. The extent to which the opening 68 in the valve 54 is permitted to overlap the openings 64 and I56, and therefore the amount of plastic delivered to the cylinder 34, is regulated by adjusting nuts 53 as above described. The position of the parts illustrated in Fig. 6 is the ultimate operating position, and the parts are maintained therein for sufficient time to permit preliminary hardening of the molded objects.

At the end of the requisite time the piston 30 begins its return movement and draws with it the platen I0. At first the platen II] merely operates to separate the dies I4 and E5. The platen I5 then engages stops 4!; and thereafter draws with platen Iii the rods 44. The stop 48 is adjusted so as to engage the platen I2 about inch before the stop 58 engages the frame member 36. The result is to bring about a slight separation of the nozzle 42 from the die I6 and the platen I2, so as to limit the conduction of heat into the die and platen to those times only at which the nozzle must actually be engaged with the die and platen; This prevents the accumulation of an excessive temperature diiferential between the dies I4 and I6.

Fig. 10 illustrates the particular relationship of the injection nozzle 42 to the platen I2 and the dies I 4 and I 6. A bore I2!) is formed in the platen I2 sufiiciently large to permit the platen 52 to be fully penetrated by the nozzle 42. A bore I22 is formed in the die I6 and is contoured for a precise fit with the exterior of the nozzle 42. This brings the free extremity of the nozzle flush with the die cavity I24 (which may be the central one of a plurality of such cavities, connected by channels) in the die I6, which, in turn, registers with a die cavity I2 in the die I4. With this arrangement there is no gate or sprue formed between the piece molded in the die cavity I24-I26 and the end of the nozzle, so that when the molded parts are removed the die molded structure lies substantially in a single plane and may be stacked at once, without the necessity of trimming off a sprue or gate. In addition, this construction eliminates what would otherwise be a cooling or hardening tendency occurring in the sprue or gate. since the material enters the die cavity proper directly from the heated nozzle. This, greatly increases the efiiciency of lateral travel of the material.

Fig. 11 illustrates schematically one form of hydraulic system adapted to perform, under manual or automatic control, the necessary operations of the machine. In this figure, 28 desighates the main: cylinder as: before; the-piston being again indicated by 30 and having the: en'- largediendi IM. Ducts W9 and; H t are connected to". the: four way, solenoid" operated spring offset valve I62; which: in -turnis connected by aconduit- L64 tothehydraulic pump I66 driven by a motor I258. Oil" for operation of the system: is contained: in atank lllifrom which it is: drawn by pump M56 through-a pipe H.2- and then forced into". the system.

ltxwilizbe -wel1= understood with those familiar withathis: art. that valve L62 iniits normal or deenergized: position. operates. to connectlthe pump pressure: to; duct Izl-zl,v so. as. to? maintain. piston 39 in the left or rearward position, the-duct H19. bemgconncctem through-the valve and a return line I14 to an oil cooler I16 of usual form, and thence via conduitl'lBi; to the5tank I'll]. A pipe for. supplying. cooling water to the oil cooler. H6 is designated'by numeral. I89. Acheckyalve L82 is inserted in conduit I6 5 to prevent flow against the direction-of the arrow on such valve. A bypass-valve, manually adjustable, may be: connected: as at I84, which valvemay be; opened more or less, when starting up the pumpaand is also; valuable when inching? piston 35! during the initialsetting up of the dies-on'the platens;

As stated,, valve I62 isof the-Spring offset type, the spring normally operating to cause pressure to be applied to piston 39 to maintain it in its rearward position. When the solenoid of such l valve is energized. howeven, the; valve shifts to connectzthe; high pressure? conduit I64 with, the duct I 69, to cause piston 30 to move to the right, with the results pointed out above. At the same time, the valve connects duct Hi to the return line I14.

Means may be provided for the automatic timing of the injection period of the cycle, and such means will be described in connection with Fig. 12, which is a schematic diagram of the electrical controls for the machine. In this figure, L! and L2 are the power mains, numeral 25!} designates a timer of usual construction whose functions are outlined below, and 202 is a switch (shown also in Fig. '2) adapted to close its contacts when the door 264 is moved to the position in which it overlies the space between the platens. The purpose of this door switch is to prevent operation of the main piston, and hence movement of the platen Ill toward platen [2 until the door is closed, and the operator is hence clear of the space between such platens. Numeral 2116 indicates the solenoid which controls valve 52. Switch 208 is they main switch for automatic operation of the machine, switch 25% enables manual control of the machine without the automatic timing feature, and switch 2IZ controls the heating circuit of the heating elements 38 (Fig. 3), through the thermostatic control indicated diagrammatically at 2M, which in turn is controlled by the thermocouple 5!! of Fig. 3 in a well known way.

The operation of timer 2 30 is as follows: clutch control solenoid 225! of the timer, when ener-- gized, operates to close contacts 222 completing a circuit to the synchronous motor 223 of the into an open die.

timer, and also closes contacts 226 controlling position of-"this: switcl'r issdiagrammatically indicated in Fig. 1.

To: initiate automatically timed. operation of the-machine, the door 241345 .closed,.closing switch 2 0%. Thereafter; theclosure of main switch 288 completes-=21. circuit from IJli through the solenoid 2201 of. the timer clutch; which closes contacts 222 and 224. The circuit from solenoid 2.29. is always completed to;L2, hence contacts 222 and 2%. remain closed, the latter contacts completing a= circuit to the: solenoid 20.5 of" the valve L62; and piston 39". moves: forward, carrying with. it the platen IQ: andv die I4; The circuitrto. the motor of: the timer, however,- remains open at the die switch "23c, hence the timed cycle does not beginun-til the die halveschave closed, where-- uponaswitch. 236' completes a circuit through. the (closed) contacts 222 to start: the timermotor. At the end of the preset time, during which injection is: proceeding, motor: 223: opens contacts 22%,,which opens thecircuit' of. solenoid 266 and causes the piston 38 toymove to its rearward posi-- tion, where it.v remains until: switch 298.- or: door: switch 2.82 is opened, thus deenergizing: clutch solenoid 220; which causes contacts- 222- to open arndsimultaneouslyrecycles the timer in prepa rationfor; another cyclezof operation. The time set: on-timer Zliii is, of; course, suificient for both theaa'ctualtinjection, phase, and such preliminary. hardeningztime' as is;desired:before;the die halves are separated,

In, some circumstances it; may: be permissible tostart the timingzcycle at thetime'thedie halves startzjtoclose,. rather'thanto; waituntil; the closure is complete:- Th-is;iszpossiblezinrthe present machine for the reason that injection of plastic is caused by movement of platen I2 to the right under pressure from die I4, whence premature injection of plastic into an unclosed die cannot occur. Such an arrangement can be made merely by omitting the die switch 23!] or the connections thereto, and providing a jumper across the points a and b of the timer 2%. In such a case, the timer motor will start as soon as the door 204 is closed, and will open contacts 224, breaking the circuit to valve solenoid 206, when the pre-set time has expired.

If manual control of the cycle is desired, switch 298 is left in the open position, and the cycle is initiated by closure of manual switch 210. This will energize valve solenoid 296 direct, and movement of piston 36 and its platen will perform the injection step, the die remaining closed until switch 2 ii! is manually reopened, when the piston will return to its rearward position.

Switch 2l2 controls the power to the heating elements, which are also under the thermometric control of the thermostat 2M governed by the thermocouple 4i! referred to above.

It will be seen from the above description that I have provided a machine in which a single source of pressure is utilized both to close the dies and to cause the injection of plastic thereinto, and that the manner in which this is done also provides inherent safety features which acsolut ly prevent the premature injection of plastic This is accomplished without the use of the usual hydraulic or electrical interlocks and hence does not depend for its enicacy upon the proper functioning of any such external elements. Also, I have provided an optionally manual or automatic timing control for the injection and hardening interval, and a novel arrangement of parts which eliminates the wasteful and inefficient formation of a sprue of material between the pieces being molded and the tip of the injection nozzle.

' In addition, I have provided an arrangement which achieves the irreducible minimum of transfer of heat from the injection nozzle to the adjacent die part, and in general have accomplished all the objects set out at the beginning of this specification.

While I have described a specific preferred embodiment of my invention in accordance with the patent statutes, such embodiment may be modified in various ways that will occur to skilled workers in the art, and I therefore wish it to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the particular embodiment shown and described, but is to be construed to cover all such equivalent constructions as come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a horizontal injection molding press, a pair of parallel platens adapted to mount upon their facing surfaces the respective members of a pair of complementary die parts, power drive means connected to the first of said platens to reciprocate the same toward and away from the second of said platens, a support frame beyond said second platen fixedly mounting an injection cylinder adapted to engage a die part on said second platen, said support frame being slidable in the direction of movement of said platens; a

fixed end frame beyond said support frame and fixedly mounting an injection plunger received in said injection cylinder; a draw-bar freely slidable through said platens and said support frame and provided with a first abutment adjacent one end engageable by the first platen during movement of the latter away from the second platen, a second abutment lying beyond said second platen, and a third abutment lying beyond said support frame, said first and second abutments being spaced apart a distance substantially greater than the distance between the outer faces of said platens when the latter are in die-closed position. 2. The invention in accordance with claim 1, in which the distance between the active surfaces of said second and third abutments is greater than the distance between the respective surfaces of said second platen and said support frame when the latter parts are in their injection positions.

EDWARD 12.. KNOWLES.

REFERENCES CITED I The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

